FAQ

Brokers are professional insurance experts who work on an independent basis, offering insurance advice to their Clients and representing them with insurance companies, to which they submit the risks involved, in order to obtain the most appropriate insurance coverage in the interests of the insured Client.
Brokers therefore operate exclusively in the interests of Clients, because unlike insurance agents, they have no direct ties with insurance companies.
In brief, brokers are fiduciary advisors who manage their Clients’ insurance portfolios.

Brokers examine the Client’s needs and identify the most appropriate insurance solutions on national and international markets. After a mandate has been signed, the task of the broker is to represent the Client and intermediate with Insurance Companies on their behalf. Brokers also provide insureds with assistance and consulting throughout all the stages of policy management: from risk dentification and assessment, to selecting the relative coverage and signing the contract; from the fine tuning of the contract stipulated in this way, to its renewal, amendment or updating, and likewise its cancellation if necessary, through to claims management.

The benefits for the Client are:

• the broker relieves the Client of time-consuming technical and administrative management functions
• the broker offers professional consulting that is always up-to-date and available
• the broker does not charge fees to the Client because they receive a commission from the companies with which they stipulate contracts

The role of Brokers is defined by Isvap Regulation no. 5, 16 Oct 2006, as follows: The conditions for exercising the profession of insurance intermediary are as follows.

• Professional integrity: Brokers must not have a criminal record or have been subject to bankruptcy proceedings.
• Professionalism: Brokers must be in possession of the professional expertise required by prior entry in the now repealed professional registers or by passing the special qualification examination. The required level of professionalism is maintained by attending refresher courses every 12 months.
• Independence: Brokers must not have any ties with Insurance Companies. Any cross-shareholdings amounting to over 10% of the share capital must be disclosed to clients prior to stipulating contracts.
• Guarantee: Brokers are obliged not only to subscribe to the Guarantee Fund, but also to stipulate a profession third party risk policy to cover any damages caused to clients by errors resulting from their or their collaborators inexperience, carelessness or negligence.